Russia Expels Israeli Military Attaché Over Espionage Charges
Vadim Liederman (haaretz.com)
Russia announced on Thursday it arrested Israel’s military attaché last week after catching him spying. Israeli Defense Force said it went through the allegations about espionage and found them “completely baseless.”
Russian Foreign Ministry said the Israeli military attaché at the embassy in Moscow, colonel Vadim Liederman, was detained on May 12 after he was caught receiving classified information from a Russian citizen.
He was arrested during a meeting in a restaurant with the Russian person, was questioned for a few hours, he was released and then he was deported.
Kremlin (tvnewslies.com)
In the statement made by the foreign ministry it is said that Russia filed a protest with Israel, and asked Liederman to leave the country within 48 hours, which he did.
IDF admitted late on Wednesday that Liederman was questioned and expelled from Russia over allegations of espionage.
Liederman was born in the former Soviet Union, he has a doctorate in engineering from the Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa.
He was a member of Israel Air Force technical corps, and worked a few years for the IAF in the United States.
Russia and the Western nations have continued to spy on each other even after the end of the Cold War, many accusations of espionage being launched from both sides.
Israeli citizens have been accused of espionage over the time in some Western countries, including in the United States.
